


An Early Start

by oreopizza47



Series: A Living History [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:13:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27271000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oreopizza47/pseuds/oreopizza47
Summary: Urim sets out to follow his first leads.
Series: A Living History [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980581





	An Early Start

Urim awoke early the following morning, before the sun had begun to rise. Despite that, he felt refreshed and energized in a way he had not felt after sleeping for longer than he cared to admit. He could learn to get used to that.

Not wanting to delay his tasks for the day, he ventured downstairs to the museum to seek out Auryen and discuss the leads he had mentioned the previous night. Descending the stairs from the safehouse directly into the staff barracks, Urim could hear a gentle rhythmic rumbling coming from the back of the room.

Oh. Auryen was not awake yet. The rumbling was him snoring. Urim did not want to startle him awake after the way the last night went.

Instead, he took a seat at the small table in the room, and pulled out the notes from Auryen, along with a map of Skyrim. He opened the notes first, and parsed out the relevant information. Nordic burial urns in Helgen, a barrow near Riverwood from all the way back in the Merethic Era, and some kind of "legendary" forge at a camp near the area. Three leads in one area would be a nice start, and it was fairly central in the region. Urim could try to make some connections in the region and branch out from there. He marked the approximate location of Riverwood and Helgen on his map, and quickly scanned for the nearest hold. Carriages in Skyrim seemed to have a notable preference for direct hold to hold travel. Whiterun would be closest to his goals.

Urim folded the note into the map, and placed them both in a pocket of his armor. He stood to leave, but turned momentarily to the continued sound of Auryen sleeping. He didn't want to leave Auryen wondering if he had just left in the middle of the night because of their argument. He pulled out a spare roll of parchment and strode into the curator's office. At Auryen's desk, Urim snatched a quill and penned out a quick message. "Gone to follow leads. Whiterun, down to Helgen, then the others. Back in a week if all goes well." 

He left the note spread out on the desk for Auryen to find, and left the museum to hire a carriage.

The morning sky was dark and pale, though signs of light were beginning to creep up over the horizon. The sun would likely rise in earnest within the next half hour, but Urim was hoping to be on the road already by then. This early in the morning, Solitude showed few signs of life. A few windows dimly lit by candlelight, a handful of tired guards on patrol. In a few short hours, the whole town would be awake, hawking wares from stalls and shops, having arguments over bartering, clanging steel in the Imperial training yard. But for right now, the hold belonged to Urim. He walked with purpose, his head high, feeling rare release from the impulse to remain in the background that he normally felt in populated areas.

Urim did not cross the path of a single living soul, besides a bored guard or two, until he reached his destination: the carriage for hire outside the hold. In few words, he indicated that he needed passage to Whiterun, and climbed into the back of the carriage.

⁂

A quiet day passed in the back of the carriage. They had left Solitude as the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the horizon, and did not reach Whiterun until the sun was low in the sky, heralding the oncoming night.

As the carriage slowed to a halt, they passed a sign pointing directions to various places of note in the region. Urim picked out Helgen and Riverwood, both pointing along a road leading East. A few moments of dialogue with the carriage driver, and he had determined that an hour's trek should take him from Whiterun to Riverwood, and there would be a cheap inn waiting there. No sense in getting lost in Whiterun when his jobs took him in the other direction. Thanking the driver, he started following the road on foot. He spared a backwards glance at the stables outside of Whiterun, but with little reason to do more business in the hold for the moment, he decided to leave it let be.

As it turned out, Riverwood was actually directly South of Whiterun, but blocked by some mid-sized cliffs, through which a well-worn stone path ambled. The Eastern road simply led to the most convenient slope of the cliff to begin the road winding through to the South. Sure enough, after just over an hour of following the path, Urim could spy a small town across a sizable stone bridge. Riverwood appeared to be no larger than a reasonably well-known trading village, but the large bridge indicated caravans of traders likely passed through with some regularity, going between Whiterun and Helgen, among other likely routes.

With the sky growing dark, Urim picked up the pace for the final leg, pushing open the door to the inn just as a few townsfolk began lighting torch sconces for the evening. 

Paying little attention to the eyes on his back, he made his way to the bar to request a room. The barkeep waved over a woman from the other side of the inn who had been trying to maintain a conversation with one of the staring patrons. She turned out to be the innkeeper, Delphine, and she pointed Urim to one of the empty rooms tersely before taking his payment and returning to the other patrons. Hmm. Not much fans of outsiders. Their scorn hardly mattered. He simply needed a bed for the night before setting off to Helgen. No point in taking the trek in the dark only to arrive at an empty shop outside of operating hours. Urim slept a dreamless sleep, restless to get moving the next morning.

⁂

Once again, Urim woke before the sun. The barkeep was already up, polishing up the counter and pouring over the ledger. He lifted an uninterested eye to Urim and closed the book. Not wanting to stick around long, Urim purchased some less perishable foods that he could use for impromptu rations, and made his way outside.

Following the network of signs that had led him from Whiterun to Riverwood, Urim picked up the trail leading to Helgen, which followed the river out the West gate of Riverwood. Light was just creeping into the sky, and a Bosmer appeared to be gearing up for a hunt by the gate.

"Hey, you leaving town traveler?" asked the Bosmer as Urim passed him by.

"Yes. I have business in Helgen."

"Well stay sharp out there," noted the Bosmer. "A pack of wolves has been spotted circling the town, feeding on the deer that roam the woods. They've been getting bold lately, attacked some travelers."

Urim unsheathed the iron sword at his hip, and held it loosely in his hand. "I'll be wary." With that, he began trekking towards Helgen.

⁂

The Bosmer hadn't been lying. Urim had only made it a few miles down the path when he heard an angry snarl a little way up a hill, which was quickly echoed by the rest of the pack. Three in all. The alpha stood on the high ground while the other two moved to flank him on the road.

Urim silently cursed himself for not having heavier armor to more easily protect himself and make himself a larger, less appealing target. But as it stood, he could take advantage of the extra speed his leathers afforded. As the wolves paced around him, he could feel his blood pumping, feel the heat of impending battle in his veins. The anger, the adrenaline, always threatening to boil over under the slightest provocation…

He let it. He let the adrenaline fill his veins, and charged the wolf on his right, swinging his sword in a two-handed arc that ended squarely in the neck of the surprised beast. A clean kill. He followed up with a quick step to the right, ducking low as the other packmate leaped for him, fangs bared. A glance up the hill showed the alpha barreling down the hill, gnashing teeth, while the other wolf landed and spun to face Urim.

No sooner had it turned than Urim planted his massive boot under its jaws, sending it sprawling backwards, stumbling to find its feet as it scrabbled over the corpse of the first wolf. That left him a free moment to plant himself as the alpha arrived, attempting to dive for his legs and cripple him. He anticipated the motion, turning his body and delivering a blow with his blade, nicking the broad side of the alpha wolf and eliciting a spurt of blood. The alpha snarled and backed towards the river to get some space between itself and Urim. 

By then, the other wolf had finally found its footing, and was seething with a primal rage, not seeming to have noticed the blow dealt to the alpha. It prepared to pounce, aiming directly for Urim's throat. But by the time it left the ground, Urim had hefted his sword to chest height and driven towards the leaping wolf with a scream of fury. The blade embedded itself deep within the chest of the wolf in flight, and Urim used his momentum to continue pushing forward, slamming the lifeless body to the ground. 

The battle cry from Urim seemed to startle the alpha, which took a swift step back further towards the water. Urim pulled his sword from the second dead wolf and faced the alpha, bearing his own teeth as he planted himself, ready for combat. 

The wolf let out a forlorn howl to the sky, and took off at full speed around Urim, towards the woods. Quiet seconds passed as Urim waited, but no howl answered. 

The battle was over, but the blood still pounded in his ears. Hot, angry breaths huffed from his lungs. His grip on the sword tightened and shifted in anticipation of a fight that wasn't coming. 

Urim closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. He needed a distraction, to work out the adrenaline. He glanced at the two wolf corpses at his feet. Skins. Fine for leatherworking. That would do. 

He let himself slip into routine after dragging the wolves off the road toward the river. Sinking dagger into flesh, parting the skin from the sinews. Before long, he had two fine pelts cleaned and wrapped up, tucked neatly across his back. The boiling rage had returned to the more manageable simmer he was used to. He took an extra few moments to clean both his dagger and his sword before sheathing both and returning to the trail.

By now, the sun was nearly a quarter through its path. On the bright side, Urim mused, at least the shopkeeper in Helgen would be open for business when he got there.

⁂

The rest of the path was mercifully clear of opposition, from either beast or man. Urim even took time to stop at the famous Guardian Stones and took some etchings in his notebook, to create replicas for the museum later. He could swear he remembered seeing a book about them somewhere. He'd do more research later.

Another mile or so up the road, Urim started hearing a low rumbling. He strained to pick up the noise, when it was suddenly replaced by an earth-shaking roar, the likes of which Urim had never heard in his life. It stopped him in his tracks for a moment, but he quickly shook himself into action and took off up the path.

Within moments, the walls of Helgen came into view. Urim could see tongues of flame rising over them, and billowing smoke further back. Another thundering roar pierced the sky, and Urim stumbled to a halt. Scanning his surroundings, he dove behind a large boulder for cover, just as the sound of massive wingbeats began to issue from within the burning city.

A black shadow, enormous and scaly, rose from the flames, spewing jets of flame as it did. For a third and final time, the beast roared with renewed anger, so loud that the vibration shook Urim against his cover. It made a sweeping circle above the now-ruined city, and then took off to the North, passing directly over Urim as it did. In doing so, Urim was able to clearly see it against the backdrop of the sky, unobscured by the smoke.

It was a dragon.

⁂


End file.
